


I know your soul is not tainted

by Reload_Paige



Series: Cirice [3]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Enemies to Friends, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-20
Updated: 2017-05-28
Packaged: 2018-10-21 05:00:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10678194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reload_Paige/pseuds/Reload_Paige
Summary: Avengers and SHIELD and civilians Oh My..





	1. Chapter 1

"Who is this Neville Longbottom, JARVIS?" Loki asked as he watched Tony leave the penthouse.

"He's a character from a popular series of books. They are downloaded on your Starklet, Mr. Loki."the AI replied. "There are also movies, should you wish to watch them."

"Very well. I will watch the movies. How long have I been here?"

"5 days Mr Loki. I have uploaded the first movie. The Sorcerers' Stone." The AI switched on the TV and Loki settled down to watch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Tony was what he called fashionably late and every-one else called inconsiderately late. His attention was drawn to the petite brunette whom Thor was hovering protectively over. 

"Dr Foster. How delightful to see you." She was worth an extra charming Stark smile. "I was reading your theories on the Einstein-Rosen bridge. We need to talk about it . How are you doing for funding? I know you could always use more."

"Thank you, Mr. Stark." her attention was drawn to Darcy who was pulling on her arm. " This is Darcy, she's my intern and Ian. He's Darcy's intern."

Coulson called for the meeting to start. The Avengers were without Bruce. But Thor had brought Jane, Darcy and Ian. Agents Hill and Rumlow was also there.

Thor was droning on and on. Tony's phone chirped with a text.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
L: you inferred I'm a bumbling neophyte not a master mage.

T: I'm so calling you Neville now.

N: I'm going to eviscerate you with a spoon.

T: Not calling you Snape.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thor was now talking about his fight with the Kurse. Tony realised something was wrong . Then it dawned on him. Thor had never mentioned Loki at all. The fight finished , Thor started to talk about how they ended up on Earth when Tony interrupted.

"Well done Jane! "

"The Lady Jane was indeed clever in finding the portal." Thor said proudly.

"No I meant all the other stuff. Especially running the Kurse through with a blade to save you."

The other people in the room looked at Tony and noted the missing data. "Oh, that! That was Loki!" Thor was dismissive.

Clint looked at Thor. "You brought Loki back here?"

"No, he died on Svartalfheim. The Kurse pulled him onto the blade. But Loki used one of the Dark Elves grenades to finally destroy him." Thor said "Then we went to Jane's"

Natasha spoke" So Thor, Loki...we need to talk about Loki. Why was he with you?"

"Well, I needed help. He was the only one with the ...what was your word??" Thor thought a moment "Ah..skill set to help me."

"So you asked him to help? And what kind of help." Natasha went on.

Thor looked at her puzzled. "We needed to get out of Asgard without using the Bifrost . Loki is the only one who knows all the pathways. We used them to travel a lot when we were younger and wanted to avoid father's eye."

Coulson spoke" Perhaps Dr Foster could give us her perspective on all this?"

Jane looked flustered, "I'm not up on military terminology. " She explained how she had been rescued by Sif, how she'd hit Loki(Clint cheered), how they'd escaped using Malekith's ship before transferring to a skiff which Loki piloted though a small channel. 

She then spoke of how Loki had used magic to trick Malekith and how he'd saved her from one of the grenades at the risk of his own life. Thor looked shocked at that. He hadn't realised Loki's actions. All he'd known was he'd had to rescue his brother, again.

Jane continued as to how Loki had protected her from four Dark Elves while the Kurse had taken on Thor. How Loki had grabbed the spear and set out to aide Thor. She was shocked at Loki's death. 

"Thank you Jane, "Steve spoke. "So Loki was a hero after all."

"My brother was always a brave fighter. He was more capable than Sif or the Warriors Three gave him credit for." Thor boasted.  
Coulson asked "So why didn't you mention him in the first place?"

"I do not understand what you mean." Thor protested.

"JARV, replay this morning's meeting please."Tony ordered.

JARVIS replayed the whole of the meeting. Thor didn't understand why the Midgardians were concerned about the trivial details of the fight. it was glorious, Thor was brave and noble. Thor had won. 

Oh and Jane and Erik may have helped. And Ian saved Darcy.

Thor then switched to his favourite subject. Himself.

Thor had two more days of R&R on Midgard before he had to return to the Realm Eternal and play Crown Prince. Thor was not happy. There was no longer any reason to fight, it was diplomacy all the way. 

Thor said he was a warrior. He didn't need to deal with diplomacy. That was Loki's skill. He was annoyed that Loki wasn't able to do this. So Thor and Jane were heading back to New Mexico. Erik, Darcy and Ian would be joining them soon.

The meeting broke up. Tony cornered Jane .He wanted to get information on the E/R bridge. He wasn't sure he totally understood the concept. Perhaps in a few weeks, he and Jane could get together and talk. After all Tony became an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics overnight.


	2. Chapter 2

Coulson , Hill and Rumlow left to return to SHIELD. Natasha decided to go and see Pepper. They tried to do lunch once a month and bitch about Tony .

Tasha stood at Pepper's door and looked in. Pepper was reading some paperwork.."Oh Natalie. Come in."

As soon as the door was closed , Pepper hugged her and starts asking questions. " So who's the Avenger stopping in the penthouse? I thought it was Bruce at first."  
Natasha looked her, "No. Bruce is off the grid at the moment. I'd know if he was back. So Tony has some-one staying with him. Male or female?"

"I have no idea. It's not Rhodey. It must have been a one-night stand. .So shall we do lunch?" Pepper asked.

Natasha jerked her head upwards and Pepper nodded back. Pepper crossed to the other door, "Susan. I'm going out to lunch with Natalie. Tell Tony if he comes looking for either of us."

They headed for the private elevator and Pepper used her access code for the penthouse. "JARVIS, mute the penthouse." she ordered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Loki was stepping out of the shower humming one of Tony's favourite songs when he heard the elevator stop. "JARVIS, who's that?"   
He felt a prickle of unease when the AI didn't answer him. He heard the click of heels on the floor. Two sets even though the second was trying to use the first's to mask her footprints. He smiled...Natasha.

Loki cast a quick glamour over himself. He shortened his hair and made it a medium brown. He couldn't change the colour of his eyes but he made them a less vivid green. He wrapped the towel loosely round his waist and still singing waited until the two women were about half-way across the room and he stepped out.   
" Of how we calmed the tides of war. We are your overlords...."He screamed on seeing the women. 

Natasha had her gun pointed at him and he quickly raised his hands allowing the towel to slip down his body hiding nothing. 

Pepper openly stared at him while Natasha briefly gazed at his body assessing all its strengths. After a few seconds, Natasha holstered her gun and said" You'd best cover yourself up, Mr??"

He gulped, blushing "Neville, Neville Evans." He picked up the towel and turned away, making a fuss about covering his body. In the TV screen , he could see the women using some kind of hand movements to communicate with each other.

He grabbed his phone and turned back to them . "Excuse me, ladies".

Pepper held out her hand, "I'm Pepper Potts, Mr Evans." 

Loki reached out his hand causing the towel to drift and grabbed the towel again. "Anthony has spoken a lot about you Ms Potts. He seems very fond of you."

"Natalie Rushman."

"Ms Rushman, a pleasure. Now I think I'd better go and dress." Loki bolted from the room trying not to laugh.

Just outside the room, he phoned Tony, knowing both women would be able to hear him."Anthony, it's Neville. There are two women in the penthouse. 'pause while Tony responded" In the shower. I came out and they were standing there. One was going to shoot me. And my towel fell down. It was soo embarrassing."His voice faded away as he walked into his suite.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pepper and Natasha exchanged a look. "Oh my god, that was so cute." Pepper said. 

"Those legs...and that ass, "Natasha replied. "That guy is seriously ripped. Do you think he and Tony are??"

"Possibly. I mean I'd go for that. Tony likes his men a bit less embarrassed though. I'm guessing it's just a new fling. "

"Do you think Tony would share? I mean...That guy is gorgeous. Anyway, still on for lunch?"

"Italian? JARVIS, unmute the penthouse." Pepper said leading the way out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony was talking to Jane. He was trying to get a grasp on the basics and she'd promised to send him some more detailed notes when his phone rang.  
"Anthony, it's Neville. There are two women in the penthouse. " 

Tony smirked, Loki was using that name.."Where were you when they arrived?"

" In the shower. I came out and they were standing there. One was going to shoot me. And my towel fell down. It was soo embarrassing."Neville whined.

Darcy asked, "Who's that? I don't know any Nevilles."

"He's a friend, that all Lacey." Tony answered. 

"Not a fuck-boy then?" she continued.

An outraged gasp from the phone and Tony replied "He's not a fuck-boy."

 

Pepper and Natasha entered the room. Tony groaned inwardly. He knew that look of innocent inquiry from his CEO.  
" Tasha and I approve. Have you seen his legs?"

"And his ass?" Natasha added.

"Good are they" Darcy asked.

"The guy's ripped." Natasha said.

"Look Nev's a private kind of guy." Tony protested as the voices rose around him.

"JARVIS, show the team what happened in the penthouse. " Pepper requested.

Tony groaned. He just hoped Loki wouldn't be offended.

JARVIS obliged, the traitor. There was gasps from the women, even Jane. Tony tried to remain neutral but gods, those afore mentioned legs and ass..

"He's blushing"

"He's ripped. Tony you have to tap that."

"Hubba hubba."

Thor patted him on the back, "He is a fine specimen."

"Steve's blushing."

"Pepper and I are going out for Italian. Any-one want to join us and leave the lovebirds alone?" Natasha asked.  
Every-one left leaving Tony watching a naked Loki and definitely not drooling.


	3. Chapter 3

Once Tony had finally finished watching the video for the fifth or sixth time, he asked JARVIS to order some food for the pair of them and headed up to the penthouse. He stopped by his room for a quick cold shower. 

Loki was watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

"So, Neville Evans. Why did you pick that name? And flashing Pep and Tasha? That was epic!"

"Well, Anthony. I needed a name that your short attention span may possibly remember. As for pranking Ms Potts and the widow...well, it was just a little fun."Loki drawled from his place on the sofa.

Tony dropped gracelessly down next to him, "Your bother is an ass.  
First off, his whole How Thor Saved the Universe barely mentioned Jane and didn't talk about you until I praised Jane for killing the Kurse.   
Second, he thinks Neville is a fine figure. That's kind of pervy, if you ask me."

Loki was scowling. "First off, he is not my brother. I was a foundling whom Odin brought back and forced into his perfect family.  
Second..Welcome to my world. Thor rarely mentioned any of us when reporting to the council. Which is why the council eventually required each of us to report on both our actions and those of our fellow warriors.  
Third, Thor has had his share of shield-brothers in his bed. He's no innocent in that respect."

Tony was saved from answering by the arrival of food. "Burgers and fries, food of the non-picky gods. Salad for the picky god."

"My thanks"

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Tony spoke again. "They think Tony and Neville area couple, you know."

"Does that bother you? I could leave sooner rather than wait for the All Father in 2 more days." Loki asked.

"Not really. I don't want you to rush away at the moment though. "

"Do you want to have sex with me, Anthony?"

"What??"

"I thought it was a simple question. Your friends already think you and Neville are in a relationship. They appear to think I am attractive. You are pleasant enough to look on. You are, I'm told, a clever and adventurous lover .Neither of us have a some-one whom we'd cheat on. However, you are at liberty to refuse and I will say no more on the matter."

Tony just stared for at him a few minutes. 'If you'd have asked me last week what the strangest thing that has ever happened to me, close to the top would be throwing a nuke through a portal placed at my tower by a jerk. Yesterday, it would have been , giving said jerk a glorified bed bath. Tomorrow it's going to be propositioned by the jerk." 

Tony paused and scratched at his goatee. "Look. Loki. If we'd have met last year, before all this, in a club or where-ever, I'd have been all over you. You're certainly highly attractive. More importantly you're smart and funny and sassy. You tick all my boxes for worth spending time with. But now...sex....No, sorry.   
I've seen what happened to you. I know you've been tortured. You need time to heal. God or not. Now, I'm not rejecting you out of hand. If the offer is open-ended, I'd like a chance to take you up on it later."

 

"As you wish, Anthony."

"JARVIS, take Netflix off Loki." Tony ordered.

"Yes Sir," The AI responded wearily.

"I'm heading to the workshop. I want to study this Uru daddikins gave me. Remember, no gods in Tony's labs. So what are you going to do, Loki?"

"Well, I shall sit here with a cup of tea and watch the next movies until Some-one urgently needs my presence in HIS lab. Some-one will nag me relentlessly to come down until I give in. Once I am down there, I will have to describe whatever Some-one wants to know about and Some-one will then argue and tell me it's not possible or it breaks the rules of science and send me away . Restoring my access to Netflix at the same time." 

"Not happening Loki. Bye."

"Start the next movie please JARVIS."

'Yes, Mr Loki."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony got the metal out of his safe. "What can you tell me about it, JARV?"

"There is nothing comparable to it , Sir."

Several minutes later. "It can't have that density. It's not possible."

"All the experiment we've carried out so far in the past two days show the same result. You even went as far as to re-create Archimedes experiment and still got the same result, Sir"

"Ask Loki to join us JARV"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Mr Loki, Sir wishes you to join him in his lab."

"Ten minutes, that's a new record. No"

"Mr. Loki, may I suggest you go now and have your disagreements then return much more quickly and watch your movie. That way you will avoid all the irritation caused by Sir."

"No"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So Loki. This Uru..By the way..2 hours, that's a new record."

"It's a metal found on Asgard .It's next to impossible to forge. Mjolnir and Gungnir are made from it. As such it can channel magic. I told you this yesterday."

"Do you have anything made from Uru?"

"My daggers which I forged myself. And Laeveteinn, my sword."

"Oh..How did you forge Uru? And your sword, can I see it?"

Loki turned and started to walk away, "I imagine she's locked away in the armoury so I can't get to her."

"Loki..Lokes please. I'm sorry .Okay. We have 2 more days before you poof off and I really, really want your input."

Loki turned back so sharply Tony was thrown off-balance," In three days, I'm likely to be in two pieces. Perhaps I should enchant my head to reply to your asinine questions and you can ask the All Father for it as a gift" he snarled.  
Tony snapped and slapped Loki across the face. "Stop it. You're acting like a hysterical woman in a 1960's sitcom. I seriously doubt you father is going to do anything rash here. After all, he had you at his mercy but instead of executing you or leaving you to die or throwing you injured into prison, he brought you here. To me. To be helped. To heal. "  
"For a price. You did it for a price," Loki hissed back.

" And you know what, your dad can have it all back, I don't care. I'm happy with simply knowing you." A rare bout of honesty shocked both men. "What you've told me is more than I can utilise for the next 10,15 years. If you aren't close, then the stones and the Uru are useless to me since I can't ask Thor about them."

Loki looked sceptical as he thought over Tony's words, "Too many people have wanted my friendship simply as a ploy. "

"Close to the seat of power, privilege and influence? Know that only too well.   
Stepping stone to bigger and better things? Yup.   
Try to manipulate you through sex? Expert level here.  
I currently have three people I consider friends, Rhodey, Pepper and now you.   
Rhodey I've known since I was 15 and at MIT.   
Pepper for 10 or 12 years personal assistant/lover/CEO.   
You five fighting days. I know more about you than I know about Rhodey or Pep...And I know I've told you everything. Even about Afghanistan. And that means a lot from me.  
And, if you want to stay here after tomorrow, I'd like you to. We still have a lot to talk about. Deal, Loki?"

Loki stopped at the door, "I was looking for Jörmungandr " before leaving. 

"The Midgard Serpent, Sir. Reputed to be the son of Loki and Angrboða. " JARVIS said.

Tony just stared at the door.


	4. Chapter 4

"I'm creating an unbreakable ID for Mr. Neville Evans. Since Mr. Evans has what appears to be a British accent I'm concentrating on London as his home town. And concocting a suitable educational background. It wouldn't do to have Mr. Neville at school with some-one famous like George Michael or Prince George. It will take a few hours but I need to ensure SHIELD will not discover it's a fake."JARVIS said.

"Thanks JARV. New Protocol, when in company or outside our rooms, Loki will be addressed as Neville or Mr. Evans. "

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Loki was wandering through the corridors aimlessly, "JARVIS, where am I?"  
"Mr. Evans, you are close to the shooting range and the gymnasium ."  
"I shall try the shooting range first, I think. What kind of bows do you have?"

"Cross bows, long bows and compound bows, Mr. Evans."

"May I borrow a cross bow and some bolts please? I wish to expend some energy." Loki waited while Tony's AI set up some targets.

Just as he was finishing his first shot, "Agent Barton is approaching , Mr. Evans" JARVIS announced. 

Loki slid back into his Neville form. He was careful not to hit the centre of the target but scattered his shots close to it. Skilled but not too competent.  
"You know, one of the popes threatened to ex-communicate archers using a crossbow." Loki managed a start of surprise as he heard Clint's voice behind him.

"Hello. Oh! I recognise you. Do you work for Anthony?" Loki asked.

"With Tony. "Loki looked puzzled." I'm Clint, AKA Hawkeye. I'm a member of the Avengers."  
"Oh..I've seen you on TV. And Anthony has spoken about you." Loki extended his hand "I'm Neville Evans. I'm ..err a guest of Anthony's"

"Yeah..I saw the video. I thought Darcy was going to faint".

"Sorry, video? Darcy?"

JARVIS intervened, "Ms Potts and Ms Rushman showed Sir and the Avengers your meeting with them at lunchtime"

A blushing Neville refused to meet Clint's eye. He dropped his hand, seemingly embarrassed. He blurted out, " I had just out of the shower and needed my phone. Ms Rushman had her gun on me.."

"Don't worry, you'd have been dead before you hit the floor," Clint smirked. "Nat's a good shot."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

10 minutes later, Tony rushed into the shooting range. He pulled up at the sight of Clint showing Neville how to shoot. 

"He's got a good eye, just needs to control the recoil." Clint announced. 

Tony was just about to answer when "Avengers Assemble" was announced by JARVIS.  
Tony and Clint exchanged looks and both ran out the door, Clint grabbing his discarded bow in the process. Loki followed them. 

Natasha and Steve were already suited up as Tony headed for a quiet space to call the Mark VII. A boom of thunder was hard outside and Thor burst in carrying Jane, "I am here to aide your struggles."  
Tony noticed Loki had flinched. "Good to see you Point Break. Ready for some hammer time?"

Tony crossed to him and removed the faceplate, talking quietly "Will you be okay? I don't want to leave you but Avengers stuff comes first."

" I will be fine. Go, do your duty. Fret not about me," Loki touched Tony's face and whispered something while gently drawing a design on his cheek. 

The five Avengers left in a Quinjet. Jane, Pepper and Darcy headed to one of TV areas. "Do you want to join us, Neville?"Pepper asked.

Loki turned. "We are going to follow them on the TV" Ian explained. "It's fun watching Thor and his 'ammer."

Loki followed them. He was uneasy. His training and instincts decreed he should battle alongside Thor and his shield-brothers , even though he knew he would not be welcomed. Nor indeed was he truly fit to fight. 

So Loki watched from the sidelines. His inner strategist admired how Captain America directed the mismatched group of heroes. He flinched whenever Thor took a hit. But his main concern was Tony, flying high above the flight. 

Several hours later, the currently un-identified foe was defeated and the jet returned to the tower. Thor had suffered the most injuries and Loki allowed himself to be pushed aside by Jane and Darcy. Instead he headed towards Tony with Pepper . Tony was manually removing parts of his armour and cursing. 

Pepper pushed Loki towards Tony, "Go on. It's okay. I'll see to Steve, Clint or Nat. We know about both of you."

With a brief glance towards Thor, Loki headed to Tony. "Are you unharmed?"

"I'm fine, Nev. Now I need to do a few repairs on the suit and I'll join the rest of you for supper."

Tony gathered up the broken suit pieces and headed towards the elevator to his workshop as Pepper called out food orders to JARVIS. 'Neville , do you have a favourite food or shall I get JARVIS to order you something?"

"JARVIS can order me something, Anthony wait for me .." as he followed carrying parts of the suit. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The pair arrived in Tony's workshop. "Are you hurt? Do you need healing Anthony?" Loki asked. 

Tony was breathing shallowly.."Broken ribs I think, Loki. But the hit I took should have been more serious. "

"I cast a rudimentary protection spell on you. I didn't want to do anything more complex in case Thor recognised it. "

"So why are you pissed then?"

"I am as you noted , a Warrior Prince. Sitting on the sidelines does not endear itself to me. I should have been fighting at Thor's side. Using all of my skills to protect Midgard."

"Guess what..I really don't think Earth wants you as a Avenger...You know the whole Chitauri Army you brought down on us. Not a good move if you see yourself as wanting to help us out.'

"Pah..I didn't want to defend this puny realm. I meant simply to aide my bro..Thor. As a Shield brother should. It was a pure instinct, training. No rational though behind it.'"

"So why did you come running to see how badly I was hurt?"

"Your Lady Pepper desired I should aide you."

"Yeah..That's cute. I'm not buying it . Since..you know, not allowed in Tony's labs." Tony frowned as Loki had placed his hand on Tony's side and was rubbing gently. A faint green glow emanated from his hand and Tony could feel the pain lessen and his breathing ease. "How did you do that?"

"Magic. I'd heal your face but the others have already seen you and I wouldn't want Thor in particular to get overly curious if you returned without a flaw." Loki had the other hand on Tony's face when the door opened.

"Get a room, boys, "Darcy shrieked. "Food's here. Thor has already started so you might want to hurry along if you're both hungry."

"Ever seen a god eat, Neville? It's an experience to behold. Thor doesn't let anything get in the way of a feast." Tony explained.

"My brother and one of his friends are both big eaters. And you know I can eat a lot myself. " The two men followed Darcy back to the penthouse dining room.

The tables and counters were packed with food. Fury and Coulson had joined the Avengers and Thor's friends along with Pepper. Coulson was trying to debrief Thor while Thor was trying to fit large quantities of food into his mouth and ignore him.

Fury crossed to where Tony and Loki were discussing ballistics with Clint. Clint was trying to explain how he was good at archery while Tony was trying to reduce it to numbers. " I don't think I know you, sir" he said to Loki.

"Nick, this is Neville Evans. He's a friend who's stopping with me for a couple of weeks. Nev, this is Nicholas Fury, I work with him sometimes." Tony introduced the pair, who shook hands and said hello to each other.   
"And what DO you do Mr. Evans?" Fury asked.

"He's a writer, specialises in fantasy novels. Though I think he just wanders around couch-surfing and living off his trust fund."Tony explained.

"I do not. You invited me to stay. The trust fund thing is true though. I don't have to worry about money." Loki said.

Coulson had finally got the information he wanted. from Thor and had joined Fury. "I'm leaving now, sir."

"I'll join you. Agent Romanov, Agent Barton, I will see you both tomorrow. . Mr Stark, Mr Evans, goodnight."

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"What is Thor drinking?"Natasha asked Tony. "He gave some to Steve and it seems to be affecting him adversely. Look, he's dancing with Darcy."

'Wow...talk about uncoordinated. Poor Steve. I reckon he's going to have a hang-over tomorrow. . I wonder if Thor will let me have some. Are you going to try it, Nat?"

"Another" was bellowed out from the other side of the room and Tony looked at Loki who was looking out of place. 

"Would you like to dance, Ms Rushman?"Loki asked politely.

"Can you waltz, Mr Evans?"

"Of course, though I may be a bit rusty, It's a long time since I danced in a formal situation. And please call me Neville."

"JARVIS, change the music to a waltz and I'll rescue Steve from Darcy's clutches." Tony asked.

The two couples were joined by Jane and Ian who were not as elegant nor skilled but seemed to enjoy themselves. Steve had collapsed in a chair near Clint . Thor was still drinking.

"Brother. I did not know you were here on Midgard too.."


	5. Chapter 5

"Brother. I did not know you were here on Midgard too.."  
Thor staggered across the room to where Loki and Natasha were dancing. 

"Bother, I'm talking....Oh..My apologies. I thought you were Loki. Brave Loki....best of all brothers.." Thor was rambling by now, "I never told him of his worth..did you know" breath hitching" Loki..Loki , my brother, killed a dragon with just his daggers. He stood betweeen it and me and...and...and killed it, saving my life. He saved my life a few days ago as well."

Thor was sobbing now like a broken-hearted child. He embraced Loki "You looked like him for a second. He thought he was second to me but he never was. "More tears. " I was envious of how mother loved him...She spent so much time helping him refine his magic."

Thor finished the glass in his hand and threw it to the floor, "Another. Our father used to tell me how much more worthy a son he was. He would recount how Lo..lo...loki had foiled one plot or another. Keeping Asgard safe.."

"All I could do was hit our enemies with Mjolnir while Loki had plans and ploys to keep us safe."  
"Keep who safe Thor?" Clint asked. 

"Me, Sif..those self-professed traitors. My Warriors Three. Norns, how they gloated when Loki finally retaliated and failed. I wasn't worthy to be king..still not worthy..to..." Thor slumped and snored. The added weight made Loki stagger backwards. 

Tony walked over and helped Loki carry Thor and steer him to a guest suite. "Shall we undress him or not?" Tony asked.

"Leave him. I'm sure Jane will do it if she wants." Loki dismissed the matter and headed back to the others.

"I'm sorry, "Jane rushed over to Loki."His brother died, well was murdered really, a few days ago. As was their mother, by the same person. I don't think Thor has really accepted it yet."

Loki nodded, "I see. "

Clint wandered over, "You know you don't look like tall, dark and crazy. Oh, you have the height and the build but the facial bone structure isn't as angular. And of course you have green eyes."

"So does Loki," Jane protested.  
"No, he had blue eyes, "Natasha said. "Tony?"

'I thought blue as well. JARVIS, pull up some pictures of Loki from the invasion. "Tony ordered. Photos from the PEGASUS bunker, Stuttgart, the Helicarrier and Loki's interaction with Tony in the Tower.  
All with blue eyes. An un-natural shade of blue. Pictures of Loki following his encounter with the Hulk, green eyes.

JARVIS then showed pictures of Hawkeye and Selvig after Loki had touched them with the spear and they too had the preternaturally blue eyes. 

"So he was controlled as well?" Darcy asked.

Natasha shrugged, "it's possible I guess. "

"Thor once said Loki was a shape shifter, could he have changed his eye colour himself to mimic those under the sceptre's control?" Jane asked.

Tony was refraining from looking at Loki who said , " Traditionally, shape shifters are unable to change the colour of their eyes. I imagine it's part of the eyes being a reflection of the soul. It's supposed to be a way of realising the person in front of you isn't who you think it is. "

"I suppose the gem may have reflected its colour into his eyes since he was so close to it." Ian suggested.

"Possible as well, "Natasha noted. "Though he was nowhere near the sceptre when he was on the Helicarrier."

 

"We'd better get Steve to bed, "Tony said. "Can you help me, Nev? He has a suite on the next floor down. What are the rest f you doing? Darcy, Ian, Jane..Thor has the floor beneath Steve. There's plenty of bedrooms there. Or Jane, Thor's just through there. The door's slightly open. "

"I'll stay on this floor if you don't mind Tony. Close to Thor."  
'JARV, give Jane, Darcy and Ian guest one protocols . Also Steve and Thor. Basically you are allowed only in the communal areas or your own suite. The rest is off-limits."Tony told them. "Tasha, Clint are you staying or going?"

The two agents exchanged glances. "Back to base I think, Clint." 

'Ok, Nat. See you around, Tony, Neville"

 

The two agents left as Tony and Loki man-handled the drunken soldier into the elevator. Once at Steve's floor, Loki lifted him, bridal style and gestured to Tony to lead them to Steve's quarters. There, Loki laid him on the bed, removed his shoes and covered up with a blanket.

"Night , Bucky" Steve slurred. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm heading down to the lab, Nev. what are you going to do?" Tony asked absently.

'May I stay with you for a while? I am not tired but I do not wish for solitude at the moment."

"Okay. Just don't touch anything. or hand me anything"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"Loki, pass me."

"Lokes, can you get me"

"Nev, I need"

"No, you solder the red wire to the 3rd "

"No, I don't think magic will work, Loki-Dokie"

"That's not possible. Do you know how many scientific laws that breaks."

"Do you want Netflix back??"

"Come on, let's go to bed. I've finished all I can do for now and both our hands are shaking with fatigue. " Tony pushed the un-resisting god along the corridor and into the elevator. 

At the penthouse floor, Tony half dragged, half carried Loki into his suite. The exhausted god tried and failed to remove his clothing leaving Tony to remove most of it. Loki collapsed onto Tony's bed. Tony stripped himself of most of his clothes and pulled the blankets over both of them. 

They slept soundly.


	6. Chapter 6

Tony woke up to the familiar feeling of being snuggled into another warm body, the familiar sound of JARVIS doing his morning update and the unfamiliar, unwelcoming sound of Darcy screaming, "We know what you're doing in there."  
Tony struggled to escape from Loki's arm which was wrapped around his waist. "Five more minutes, Boðy" was murmured into his hair. 

Tony tugged at the arm with more urgency, "Lo..Neville..Get up. "

A gasp behind him, "My apologies Anthony. I must have been more tired than I thought. What is that hideous caterwauling?"

"Darcy. I think she wants something." Tony reached for his discarded clothes and got dressed, rapidly.

Loki sighed and slid back into Neville then dressed. He dutifully followed Tony into the kitchen where Darcy and Ian were waiting. Darcy sent a kissy-face his way and he sighed again.

"So Tony, Thor and Jane left earlier. They didn't want to disturb you as Thor said some-thing about celebrating your fine victory" Tony could hear the rolling of Loki's eyes." So me and Ian are kinda stuck here."  
"Right, and?" Tony asks already knowing the answer.

"Is there some way you can get us to New Mexico? We don't have much money, so flying is out. SHIELD brought us over in a jet, so they won't help. Amtrak and Greyhound don't go anywhere near. So can we borrow some money for a car or..?" Darcy smiled up at Tony pleadingly. 

Tony pretended to think about it. The sound of eye-rolling from behind him was over-bearing. "I suppose you could stop here for a few days. What do you think Nev?"

"I have that meeting tomorrow, Tones. The one when I decide if I'm staying or not..... remember?"Tony winced, he had forgotten Odin was returning tomorrow.

"Ok, then...JARVIS, contact Happy. Get him over here to drive the adorkable Ms Lewis and Ian to the jet. Get the pilot in and the jet prepped for a short trip to NM. Find the nearest airport to ??" he looked at Darcy.

"Puente Antiguo, please." Darcy was hugging herself. She was going to fly in a Stark jet after the Quinjet. 

"The closest commercial airport is 20 miles from Puente Antiguo and there is no place to hire cars from." JARVIS said. "And you are forbidden to use air force bases after last time, sir. Even though there is one closer."

"I'm sure Erik or Jane can get us," Darcy said. "I'll phone them once I know where and when we are landing" as she rushed out.

"Thank you Mr Stark, "Ian followed in Darcy's wake.

"I'm sorry. I forgot all about how important tomorrow is for you, for us" Tony hugged Loki tightly until a catcall from behind him reminded them that they were not alone.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do" Darcy yelled as she and Ian left the penthouse in Happy's company.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I've got to finish repairing the suit" Tony said , still sitting over the remains of brunch Loki had prepared for them.

Loki was rolling a bread-crumb in his fingers, Tony was finding it hard to look away." Anthony, I may be able to cast a small but permanent protection spell on your armour. Tis a mere cantrip but useful. I noticed the one I cast on Thor many centuries ago was still working yesterday. "

"I thought your mojo jojo was compromised by the Big Blue Marble here?" Tony challenged.

"No, otherwise my protection spell on you yesterday would have failed. The Mind Stone was affected by the ARC reactor and I'm at a loss to know why." Loki confessed.

Tony considered this, "Okay.. Lay on, Macduff, and damned be him who first cries ‘Hold! enough!.' "

"Shakespeare Anthony..How..quaint!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So you need the URU to forge a piece of the suit.?"

"Yes, I want to make a small item that you can transfer from suit to suit as needed."Loki explained.

"I don't have anything hot enough to forge URU, Lokes".

"I do"

"Magic??"

"Of course."

"If I refuse to give you my URU?"

"I will use my daggers to create the amount I need. It will not take much and I can re-hone the edges at the same time."

"You think of everything don't you, Loki?"

"It seems not. Otherwise I would have either destroyed Jotunheim or been king of Midgard." Loki responded drily."Perhaps, both."

"Okay, so what are you going to make?"Tony asked placing his URU in front of Loki.

Loki quirked an eyebrow at this. "I know not. What would be easier? A piece of your suit or a talisman you would wear? I feel a talisman would be preferable as you would have it in contact with your skin and you need not be in your suit to wear it."

 

"How can you forge the metal? I mean does it have to be a disc or can you make a ring?"Tony asked as he knew what he wanted.

Loki thought, "In order to process enough URU for a ring...It would take several weeks. I could do it quicker but the ring would be thin and not capable of carrying much magic."

Tony rummaged around in the safe. he found what he was looking for, a ring. He passed it over to Loki. It had obviously had an inset around the centre which had fallen out leaving a skeleton of two outer ring segments held together by cross pieces. "Could you use this ?"

Loki heard the hope in Tony's voice. He let his magic percolate into the metal and gasped. "I do not know this metal but there is love bestowed in the casting of it. And the wearer ..Who were these people? I can work with this as a base. I can place a runed inlay between these...Yes it will work. The residual magic will boost what I employ. "

Tony looked at the glowing ring, "It was my mother's wedding ring. She told me Howard created it for her from the Vibranium left over from capt's shield. The missing inlay was gold. "He slid the ring onto his pinkie finger."I used to wear it all the time after they died. But the gold didn't solder onto the Vibranium and fell out."

"That won't happen with the URU and magic."Loki promised. He held his hand out and Tony reluctantly passed the ring back.

Tony watched as over the next couple of hours, Loki patiently removed small pieces of URU both from his daggers and the piece given to Tony. Once he had what considered enough, he placed them around the ring and covered it with his hand. An intense green glow covered his hand and Tony thought he could see the outline of bones through the skin.

Loki sat there for at least an hour, according to the clock. Then he slumped, head resting on the table next to his hand. "Don't touch me, Anthony". 

" Are you ok? Do you want anything?"  
After a few minutes, Loki lifted his head, "Some food would be good and a drink. Nothing too heavy. Toast, tea...that kind of thing." Tony looked at the paler than normal figure and rushed out.

By the time he had returned, Loki was sitting upright and inspecting the ring. He passed the tea and toast and waited. Loki listlessly picked at the toast and drank the tea.

After a few minutes, Loki passed him the ring. Tony turned it in his fingers. The Vibranium bands were now separated by an URU band. Tony could see the demarcation as a faint green line. There were green glittering sigils on the inner surface. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. The runes are mainly simple protection cantrips. One against force, one against fire , one against cold . Once I know what will happen tomorrow, I will try to add another one or two. But they will take more energy than I have at present."

"Couldn't you have done this slower and use less energy?" Tony asked.

" I did it as slow as I could. I could have done it faster but...BOOM!"Loki gestured a mushroom cloud. "Such a disturbance in the force would have had even had Thor noticing. I preferred to be subtle about the whole procedure."

Loki stood up, wincing "However I believe I shall shower and then go to sleep. Goodnight Anthony."

"It's still early, don't you want any food?"Tony was concerned by the god's pallor .

"No, just sleep. I haven't created anything on this scale for several years. It was harder than I expected. I'm sure JARVIS will order me something should I wake during the night."Loki left the lab , slowly obviously tired beyond endurance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony was still trying to repair his suit when JARVIS notified him that Captain Rogers wanted to know what he and Neville wished to eat. Tony had totally forgotten about Steve. 

"Oh anything for me . Neville isn't feeling well and has gone to bed early." Tony blustered, confused.

"Okay, I'll roast a chicken and make all the sides for us and make some of my mom's best chicken soup for Neville. Then he can eat it when he's feeling better. Okay, Tony" the sounds of Steve pottering around the kitchen filled the air-waves.

"Thanks, Steve. I'm sure Neville will feel better having eaten that," Tony responded. 

The two Avengers spent the next couple of hours watching movies before retiring to their respective sites and going to bed. Well, Steve did. Tony wandered restlessly, looking at paperwork, tidying up the dining area, checking with JARVIS about Lo ...Neville

Tony was just about to call it a night when JARVIS notified him of a problem with Loki. He was screaming..loudly. Asleep but screaming. Tony ran from his room towards Loki's suite but wasn't fast enough.

Steve was there first.


	7. Chapter 7

Steve stood in the doorway , listening to Neville scream. He couldn't understand the words. It wasn't a language he understood. 

Tony ran past him into the bedroom and grabbed the man on the bed and tried to calm him down. Steve hated feeling useless and moved onto the room. The restless man on the bed turned towards Steve and shouted" Thor, brother, help me.."

Steve looked at Tony. Then back to the shivering cowering figure of the demi-god he helped to defeat, whom he had been told was dead."Loki!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Steve, it's not what you think it is"

"Really, Tony. It looks like you are harbouring a dangerous war criminal to me. Are you compromised? Are you? I must notify Director Fury at once. We all thought Loki was dead. Thor will have to be informed as well. And he'll deal with this. Take him back. To prison where he belongs "

Steve turned to leave but Odin was stopping him from moving. "Greetings Captain of America ,I am Odin All Father. King of Asgard"  
"Good, then you can return Loki to what-ever cell he belongs in. I'll tell Fury. I have no doubt he will want to talk to you and ensure that he never returns to Earth and to threaten us again."Steve all but ordered.

"You're early" Tony accused Odin.

"Indeed. I needs must ensure my son's safety before I can allow Thor his freedom across the Nine Realms."

"All Father". The three men turned to see Loki on one knee, hand on his chest giving Odin formal acknowledgement of his rank. 

"Rise , my son. "Odin said." You never have needed to greet me like that. You are of the House of Bor, not a common warrior."

Tony took one look at Loki and realised that he was barely able to kneel never mind stand. He helped the god up and sat him on the edge of the bed. "You okay. How's the wound?"Tony asked quietly.

"It wasn't due to that. I used too much seidr. I am no longer used to such expenditures of pure energy, since...since...since I fell"

Unconsciously, Tony placed his arm around Loki's shoulders and pulled him close. Looking up, he saw compassion in Odin's eye and disbelief in Steve's.  
Steve was confused. Half an hour passed while he watched what was happening around him.  
First off the person every-one was talking about, Tony's supposed 'boy-friend' turns out to be Loki.   
Second..well, Loki was supposed to be dead.  
Third, Odin wasn't shackling his son to return him to the inter-galactic jail Thor had sprung him from. Instead, he and Tony were talking about places of refuge for Loki. Like he was in need of succour, not imprisonment. Tony was cuddling the errant god like a child or worse...a lover!

Steve had finally had enough. "Right, I'm heading to SHIELD head-quarters and getting enough men to corral Loki and imprison him, if Asgard is refusing to do so." He turned to leave but another Asgardian was in his way. 

Heimdall.  
"Are you here to escort Loki back to his cell?"  
"Not unless the All-Father commands me to." he said.  
"Well, Odin All-Father. When are you taking Loki back? I need to report to Director Fury soon about this. Tony is compromised. And therefore cannot make a rational decision about returning Loki to your justice system. " Steve asked.

"By what right to you think to command Odin, petty mortal?" Odin asked.

"I'm the leader of the Avengers and responsible only to SHIELD. Now, either you take Loki into custody or I shall be forced to call in my superiors to do so. " Steve declared.

"IS this true Anthony? Is this America Captain your leader whom you have sworn to obey? Should my decision be contrary to this SHIELD , wilt thou be forsworn?" Odin queried.

"What? No..the Avengers didn't want me in the first place. Iron Man yes, Tony Stark, no.."He looked at Odin."It was to save earth from the Chitauri and well, Loki. That's why I became part of it. Not my idea at all."

"And my son, will you still help him?"Odin inquired ominously."Even though it will put you at odds with your shield brothers?"

"Of course. I'd rather the rest of the team were on board for this but .."

Steve interrupted him, "Tony! I can't believe you want to throw away everything we did as the Avengers. Fury already thinks the worst of you. Clint and Tasha will kill both of you on sight. I don't think your Science Bros thing will stop you both being Hulk-smashed." He turned to Odin."We can't have you dumping your genocidal psychopath man-child on Earth. Thor promised Asgard would deal with him. "

"The captain is right," Loki said. "Leaving me here would attract the Mad Titan again. The Chitauri were one of the lesser armies he commands for his lady. It was as much luck as tactics that defeated them."

"And an awesomely handsome and brave hero nuking them, don't forget Vixen." Tony added.

 

"That was the luck I was talking about, Anthony."Loki noted.  
"And I guess you are taking credit for the superb tactics, Lokes?"

Steve and Odin both sighed. Steve turned to Heimdall, "Let me past. You won't be the first god I've fought. I have to report this mess to Fury. "

Heimdall looked at Steve. Steve realised this god could see right through him.  
Tony, however just had to get his say in, 'You didn't beat Rock of Ages, I was the one who blasted him onto his ass."

"You distracted me with AC/DC, it wasn't a fair fight."

"It just proves that Angus is better than that guitarist you like...Too many fancy twiddles for me."

Steve watched, amused as the pair started to argue about musicians. He looked over at Odin and saw a fleeting unguarded expression of hope. He sighed. He knew that if it were any-one other than Loki he'd be happy to give him a second chance. He noticed both men had relaxed. Loki looked younger and more frail than the rigid would-be conqueror he remembered.

"Heimdall, fetch this Fury. I will have his council."Odin ordered.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fury wasn't quite asleep. He was far too untrusting of that. So when he felt the faintest disturbance of air in his bedroom, he'd clicked the safety off his gun and waited, feigning sleep.  
'Nicholas Fury, Odin All-Father has need of your council. Dress and come with me."Heimdall announced. "I am Heimdall the All-Seeing. You do not fool me."  
Fury subdued a sigh and got out of bed. He washed quickly and dressed. He turned to Heimdall and asked what was going to happen now.

"Hold on to me and walk where I walk . Do not get distracted by anything you see." Heimdall responded.

"Where are we going, how and why?" Fury demanded.

"To the All-Father walking along Yggdrasil's paths. Hold tight, such things are not for mortals to understand."

"Just don't show Stark this. He'll never stop trying to understand it." Fury muttered as they finally left the hidden pathways into Loki's bedroom. Without a thought, Fury raised his gun and shot Loki.

Well, tried to. The bullet slowed and landed gently in Odin's out-stretched hand. "Interesting, how much Midgard has created since I was last here. Tell me, Loki, have they finally made a sequel to Star Wars? "

Tony was about to answer when Fury spoke up, "You wanted me here, Odin. Why?"

"Loki will be taking up residence in Stark Tower with Anthony. We will find some way on allowing him to render Wergild to Midgard and he will act as Asgard's emissary while we liaise with the other realms to find a common strategy to defeat the Mad Titan."

"No .He stops here only to rot in jail. We'll find a way to imprison him and force us to tell us everything we need to know. Stark, get onto finding a magic suppressing device...."Fury's voice trailed off as he saw the gentle way Tony was holding Loki."So this so-called 'boyfriend' was Loki all the time?"

"He used air-quotes, Lokes...I told you he would!" Tony squealed.

Odin looked at the Man of Iron. Heimdall's intuition was correct. This man understood Loki on a level few could aspire to.

Fury was thinking fast. There must be a way to salvage the situation. The addition of another Asgardian to the Avengers would be beneficial. However, Loki's addition to SHIELD would be invaluable. The loss of the Tesseract still rankled. 

"Loki will not rot in jail as you so eloquently put it. Nor will you torture him for information. I will leave a legion of Einherjars to protect him, if necessary." Odin announced, "However, I would prefer no-one knows Loki is still alive. That way Midgard has a degree of protection from the Titan while building up her strength to be part of the alliance against him."

Loki looked horrified," Not even Jotunheim would fail to miss your point if you did that ,All-Father. The other realms would have to send troops to Midgard to counter-act Asgard's presence. Such an action would alert him to the possibility of an inter-realm disturbance which he would try to enlarge by causing further dissent. Or to a potential strong alliance which could defeat him unless he had all 6 stones. He would need to undermine such a potential by ...You're talking of an inter-realm war which would make the Jotun invasion of Midgard look like a squabble between infants."

"You always learnt your lessons well, Loki. So my son, you took the mind-stone from the Titan and prevented him from gaining the Tesseract. Volstagg and the Lady Sif have taken the Aether to one of the immortals known as the Collector. I deemed it unsafe to have two gems so close. Especially as one of the gauntlets is also on Asgard."

"One of his agents, Ronan is looking for one. The Power Stone, I believe. The Titan also knows where the other Gauntlet is....I do not know where. I was only told enough to use the Mind Stone and get the Tesseract. "Loki confessed.

 

Fury was now highly concerned about the scenario the two gods were talking about .An inter-galactic war on his door-step or looking after a former enemy? What could SHIELD get out of such a one-sided bargain. "So I have a choice of two equally bad propositions and you cannot expect us to be happy about it. As much I abhor the idea of aiding your son...Your adopted son, my apologies. "He blithely ignored the matching glares from the Norse gods. "I find I am in need of more assurance that Loki, the so-called God of Mischief and Lies isn't just going to play around or worse while I'm giving him sanctuary. "

"This is why he will remain with Anthony. Loki will aide your SHIELD with her researches into the Titan and how to defeat him. Also he will render aide to those affected by his attack. Both with magical aide for injuries and physical assistance with rebuilding." Odin said.

"Does he have all his magic? or is it restrained in anyway? If Loki is to be a SHIELD agent, he will have to first complete a physical and mental evaluation then a physical workout on a military style course to make sure his physical fitness is up to par as well as unarmed fighting and weapons training." Fury announced thinking this would be too much for the mage.

"Loki's magic was restrained by his prison cell and is slowly returning. It's a self-restraining system to ensure that it doesn't over-whelm the channels and burn out the body. He is still the most powerful mage in the Nine realms and you would be prudent not to try and subdue him. Anthony, and Anthony alone will carry out what ever medical procedures you require. He will tell you what the answers are. I do not want any results being spread across Midgard." Odin argued.

"Very well, "Fury capitulated on that point. He knew when to fold his cards. "And I doubt any of my psychiatrists would be capable of evaluating an Asgardian anyway. So we are left with basic training. The next intake of agents is in two weeks time, are you able to join us then Loki? Or do you prefer Neville? " 

Loki looked at his father, "Yes, I will be able to participate in two weeks. And Neville Evans is an acceptable pseudonym with the background JARVIS has concocted for me."

"Very well, I shall expect you to be at SHIELD HQ in two weeks. Captain, you will remain here and accompany Neville when the time comes. Stark..I expect YOU to find a good reason why a trust-fund, couch hopping fantasy author is a suitable candidate for SHIELD." Fury turned and left.

Odin and Heimdall left. Odin promising to return on the morrow with more items for Tony. 

"Tony..I didn't want to ask you in front of Director Fury. But are you and Loki ..fonduing?"Steve asked.

Tony sighed, "No. Yes Darcy found us in bed together but it was because we were both exhausted."

"Are you??"

"Steve. Please stop..We are not. I'm not that compromised. "Tony looked at Loki who shrugged." We kind of talked about it but ...we aren't and yes we might. Are you going to tell Fury about this?"

Steve blushed, "No. At least not unless I feel it's affecting either of your judgements."


	8. Chapter 8

"So, Mr. Evans Why do you want to join SHIELD?" Agent Coulson asked politely.

Loki spoke for several minutes about " the importance of protecting one's world from inter-national terrorism and the threat from other planets that Anthony, Mr. Stark, err Tony..you know" quietly "Iron Man told me about."

Loki cast an innocent green gaze at Agent Coulson who just looked at him, "Not really a convincing reason for joining SHIELD, Mr. Evans. Nor is it the truth. Perhaps you could tell me the real reason."

Loki squirmed in his seat before blurting out the truth..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"You lost a bet with Tony while you were drunk? Man, that's lame, "Hawkeye laughed. The hunched figure of Neville slumped further down in his seat. 

"Not so loud, please. My head hurts and the room is spinning, "he moaned.

Tony bounced in looking fresh and relaxed, "Morning Clint." He leaned over the back of Neville's chair, "Morning Sun-beam." loudly.

"That was a dick move, Stark. 'Clint smirked, "Getting your boy-friend to join SHIELD".

"Not joining SHIELD, just trying out your boot-camp. Just seeing if he can pass. It'll be fun. Now..Steve is going to help with basic physical training. Do you want to help out or not, Clint?" Tony asked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"So, You lost a bet with Tony Stark while you were drunk? And the forfeit is to try out as a SHIELD agent?" Coulson asked for the second time.

Loki nodded . 

"Well, at least it's a better lie this time round, Loki"

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two weeks following Odin and Fury's talk went in a blur. Odin had returned with more gifts for Tony and some items with which to tempt Fury and his scientific team.

Steve took upon himself to ensure Loki didn't over-power any of the SHIELD trainers or other attendees. It was hard getting Loki to pull his punches at first but he understood the reasoning and when they had finished, both god and man let loose in a display of raw power that Tony found mesmerising to watch. 

Clint spent many a happy hour watching this before he decided to assist with Neville's training.No-one told him who Neville was so he was happy to spar as well as teach him to shoot.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day One..SHIELD Boot camp

The agents-in-training but more importantly their trainers were already pre-disposed to dislike Neville due to him being the boyfriend of Tony Stark and who had been training with Captain America and Hawkeye. The tall man who walked into the lecture theatre and sat down without a fanfare was disregarded. 

Every-one was waiting for the big arrival. Two trainees had even reserved a seat between them at the front but Loki had sat behind the one who looked the more aggressive of the two and had been politely greeted.

Agent Coulson and Captain America had started the session with speeches about the righteousness of SHIELD when the obnoxious trainee agent stared to speak. He was demanding to know where Stark's toy boy was. The other one joining in. Loki caught Coulson's eye and nodded slightly.

He pressed the edge of a small but very sharp blade against the jugular of the man in front of him. Drops of blood started to drip slowly down the man's neck. "I am no-one's toy boy." The quiet voice was heard by every-one in the room. 

"Trainee Evans, you were all told you could not bring weapons into the training facility." Steve said.

"No, Captain. I was told any weapon found on me would be removed. This wasn't found therefore it's not against regulations. "Loki disagreed.

"Trainee Evans, please give the knife to Captain America so we may finish this morning's briefings and get every-one to their assigned duties." Coulson spoke before returning to the rest of his spiel. 

"I'll be waiting for you, "the other men threatened. Loki quirked his eyebrow at him, not impressed. He was nearly as tall as Loki but built more muscular like Thor. No doubt, he relied on that rather than anything else.

Loki's assigned duty for the afternoon was unarmed combat alongside the two openly aggressive trainees. This was something he was familiar with. He just hoped they would be too...oh who was he trying to impress? They would be thoroughly pissed when he beat them. After all, Thor was, Sif was, Volstagg and Hogan would be silent but Fandral was the only one to praise Loki as he won.

Loki avoided the canteen at lunch and headed for the external combat arena instead. He looked at his Starkphone where there was a text from Tony ."Steve tells me you've already upset some1. Good boy!1"  
He smiled.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Loki waited for his turn to be called. The combat trainer had set several pairs fighting .Loki just happened to be matched with this morning's loudmouth and they were waiting their turn as several interested people walked around the combat area. Unsurprisingly, Fury was there with agents Coulson, Barton and Romanov. Captain America was there too. A couple of other agents that Loki had a distant memory of seeing when he was either on the Helicarrier or at the PEGASUS bunker.

The combat trainer had explained the rules, basically no killing each other. The two men faced each other and waited. 

 

Loki fainted towards the man in front of him before swiftly spinning and taking out both of two men who had tried to creep up on him. Several of the trainees complained that such tactics weren't fair. Agent Coulson reminded them that they were fair tactics since in an unfair situation the average agent wouldn't be fighting one on one .There were far more chances that a many to many scenario would be feasible and agents should be able to cope with this scenario.

This lead to a free for all where after three hours only seasoned SHIELD agents were left standing.

"Class dismissed" Coulson said.


End file.
